Paternity

Under Florida law, minor children have the right to an ongoing relationship with both parents, whether or not the parents were ever married to one another.

If you are the parent of a child born out of wedlock, Monteagudo & Viana can help you seek to establish parental rights, including a determination of paternity, custody, visitation, and parenting plan rights. We can also help you request child support and medical insurance coverage for your child.

As a firm specializing in family law, we can help you resolve such issues as establishment of parental rights, child support payments, custody and visitation rights, and parenting plans for unmarried parents. If both parents acknowledge the father, the couple can establish paternity at the hospital. If there is a question about who the father is, you can establish paternity through genetic testing. Once paternity has been established, the court will use child support guidelines to determine what the support needs to be, and whether the child support is paid by the mother or the father. The court will look at the best interests of the child to determine custody and visitation rights.

If you believe that you are the father of a child but did not file any papers at the hospital, Monteagudo & Viana can help you establish your paternity. If it is determined that you are the father, the court can enter custody, visitation, and support orders in the best interests of the child.

Please feel free to contact our law firm to discuss your divorce or family law issue. While the circumstances of each case are different and may require different courses of action, regardless of the method chosen, the goal remains the same - to secure the best possible resolution for the client.